The unexpected temptation

V

                                             London, England, 1837, Monday.

Annabeth had not expected Mr. Carter to arrive so early. Not that she wasn't ready. She had woken up hours before the sun had, courtesy of Aunt March. She was merely unprepared to see him walk through the door just as she had just finished breakfast. She was going to get some reading done when Mr Carter walked in.

They shared a rather awkward greeting before she showed him to the drawing room where aunt March was already seated.

"I hope your headache is not persistent" he began.

"No" she replied. After that there was a long silence. "Will you attend next week's ball?" He asked searching her eyes, as though he would find something there. Aunt March replied "yes" just as Annabeth was about to say "no". Aunt March gave her a stern look. "Tell me miss Newton, or Annabeth if I may be so bold, what do you enjoy doing?" Annabeth's heart swelled at the question. "She likes to take care of children and she also enjoys a good theatre" Aunt March said, smiling. Annabeth was confused. If aunt March was not going to allow her to speak, then why was she here in the first place when she could just go to bed, for lord knows she slept at the ungodly hour of 5(after some reading), only a few minutes before aunt March woke her.Annabeth zoned out therefore, with the consolation that aunt March would lie for her.

"Goodbye Annabeth" Mr Carter said when Annabeth opened the door for him

"Goodbye Mr Carter" Annabeth replied closing it. Mr Carter stuck out his leg to prevent Annabeth from closing the door. Annabeth looked at him, questioning his action with her eyes.

"John" he stated.

"Excuse me?" Annabeth asked, quite confused.

"My name. It's John Willoughby Carter"

"Ok" was all she said. She closed the door after a final wave. Aunt March was directly in front of her, with an unreadable expression on her face. "The man told you his full name and all you could say was 'ok'?" Annabeth was past confusion now. She walked away from there, almost immediately forgetting the visit. She was tired of all that talking, she needed a nap, she realized, and so made haste to the bedroom.

No sooner had Annabeth fallen deeply asleep than she heard someone call her down again. Oh come on, Annabeth wailed, in her head of course. She hastily put on a bathrobe before walking out the bedroom door. She wobbled down the stairs as her senses were still asleep. "Yes " she stated, rather sickly sweet. Annabeth didn't know who called her. She was confused. She turned around , only to meet William's face. "What are you doing here?" She asked, still drunk with sleep to not realize that she was standing in front of a man with only her robe on. Her eyes were red and her hair was a mess. Not to mention that William was well aware of the underwear she had under the robe. "Did I come at a bad time?" He asked, averting his gaze. "Yes. You can come at..". She trailed off, looking for a clock. When she did not succeed, she asked William for the time. "It's eleven o'clock" he said, swinging his hands. "I have been sleeping for 2 hours. Well... you can come at 2" she said before the world went fuzzy around her. Sleep overpowered her and the last thing she saw was William reaching towards her.

"Annabeth wake up!" A voice yelled. Annabeth woke up with a start, her heart running a mile a minute. As her vision cleared she recognized the owner of the voice as Beatrice. "Wake up. William is looking for you" said she, pulling the girl out of the bed. "Where were you all?" Annabeth questioned groggily, getting up with little success. "Well, we went to the tailor's. The reason you did not come along was because you refused to wake up. It was most amusing and a bit irritating" she breathed. Annabeth got up and dressed more properly and tamed her brunette tresses. As she walked down the stairs, she remembered all that had transpired between her and William a while ago. It was then that it dawned on her that she wore only her bathrobe to engulf her underwear and it also occurred to her that it was not able to envelop her as she would have liked. The memory overcame her like a tidal wave and she blushed at it. Why on earth had she even decided to sleep with nothing other than her underthings? Then again 'twas very comfortable to do that. Soon she was face to face with him and couldn't control her thoughts. How would he view her now, when she was practically naked in front of him only hours ago? It was bad enough that her reputation was barely living back home. The only person who had not heard of the scandal was him. She rid herself of the thoughts as William began to speak as soon as they were seated. He talked of nothing other than the weather and other balls and picnics planned by his relatives and acquaintances. When William realized aunt March had left the room, he began

"Will you accompany me to the art gallery tomorrow?"

"What? No" she answered.

"Oh come on. Do not be a spoilsport. You have no idea how you will be saving me. "

"I can't William. I have a ball to attend to" a beautiful lie Annabeth had never told before. Truth was, she was just so tired. All that movement was something she wasn't used to.

"Let me rephrase. Come with me or aunt March will surely know what had transpired a few hours"

Annabeth let out a laugh.

When William's countenance did not break, she realized how serious he was. "You're kidding" she stated.

"I'll pick you up at eight am. I promise, it'll be fun."

She whined in protest like a child but William stood firm. When he finally took leave of them, she hurried to the library and prayed to God that William would have a little accident, that he would oversleep... anything, as long as she wasn't going in the end.

"William has told me he would like to attend the art gallery tomorrow" aunt March began. Annabeth inwardly groaned whiles looking at her. Did they have to discuss this now? She was just getting to the good part. Dinner had ended roughly an hour ago and now she sat in the living room upstairs with a book in hand. Over at the pianoforte sat Catherine , playing away a merry tune, without a care in the world. Debbie sat by the window, painting the evening scenery nature had provided for her. Beatrice and Victoria danced together, laughing all the way. "You will attend and put in a good word for my Victoria, won't you?" It wasn't a request, it was a command and to prevent this conversation from escalating, she simply nodded, returning once more to her book. "You must get your head out of those books if you want to secure a good husband by the end of the season. No one likes a bluestocking for a wife how much more a bluestocking with a tarnished reputation? You are lucky it did not reach London" oh now aunt March was being dirty. Did she always have to remind her of that? We're not human beings allowed to make mistakes? And from what she could remember, she hadn't even kissed the man and though others would see her as the most unshameful strumpet, aunt March was supposed to support her and not join the rest. Some family members she had. She nodded and left. If aunt March would not let her read, she would at least let her sleep in peace.